Unsurprisingly, this one’s a double feature (because it seems like everyone and their sister is doing multiple Fringe shows this year)
The Life Robotic
Playabunga Productions - John Hilsen
A robot yearns to live a normal human life... BUT it can only say what the audience texts in on their phones. Hilarity ensues as the crowd drives the action and story, all from the comfort of their own seat.
Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre Tagged For: Comedy, Improv, Original Music, Audience Participation Content Warnings: Adult Language
Ages 7-11 and up
AND
As Above, So Below
Michael Rogers
A reflection on solitude and silence. As Above, So Below is a solo show that plunges into the soul's dark waters, the truth we find within its depths, and the light that we hope waits above the surface.
From Michael Rogers, Minnesota Fringe Golden Lanyard winner and helmer of Developers (MN Fringe 2022), Chorus (MN Fringe 2019), and Now We See It (MN Fringe 2018) comes a deep dive into the soul's dark waters and his first-ever solo show.
Venue: Barbara Barker Center for Dance
Tagged For: Drama, Physical Theater, Solo Show, Storytelling
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Abuse/Physical Violence, Drug Content, Loud Noises, Mental Illness, Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm
Ages 18 and up only
There’s very little to go on with the solo show “As Above, So Below” - other than it’s the first solo show from Michael Rogers, but that alone makes it worth watching.
His bio there includes the line, “On stage, he plays through a smile and veers into the abstract, the sincere, and the absurd” - which is as precise a summary of his style as anything I could come up with.
In any given year, the Fringe is lousy with solo shows, many of which can turn out to be lousy. I feel fairly safe in betting that this will be one of the good ones, so I’m looking forward to seeing it.
As for “The Life Robotic,” that lives that the complete opposite end of Michael Rogers’ performance spectrum as the solo show - it’s improv, it’s comedy, and his face is covered in silver makeup because he’s a robot. They have, however, been perfecting this improv concept in performances since at least 2019, as far as I can tell. It’s a tricky construct but they’ve clearly learned how to make it work.
They showed as much in the Fringe preview where creator/director John Hilsen held up the phone number they use and talked the audience through the suggestion by text process. Hilsen guided the preview crowd by offering up categories of situations, like work, a singles bar, the rollercoaster of ups and downs in love - and the crowd offered dialogue that led us from a job at the bread factory to a romantic plea to some geese by the end. Rogers as the robot could only speak things if the audience texted him material.
This is a variation on things I’ve seen before. During the pandemic, we got an online version of #txtshow offered to us in the virtual Fringe in Minnesota, but that was originally a stage show with a live in-person audience texting the performer what he would say next. I marveled at it then, I marvel at it here.
Rogers isn’t solo in “The Life Robotic,” however, he’s got backup from other improvisors who I’m assuming are not bound by the text limitation for their dialogue, though I’m sure they, too, are riffing off that material. The cast includes Laura Berger (also in One Tree HELL, from another returning favorite, Wet Splat Productions) and Rita Boersma (also in the previously mentioned show "The Camp Out" from returning favorite Mike Fotis), along with several others.
There’s a character named Dr. Tinkler, which proves that in some sense, I still have the mind of a child, because I find that funny without knowing anything else about it.
While the audience isn’t required to text, the website for this show concept does make a strong case for this making improv more accessible to the full audience - not just the person being the loudest a**hole shouting random directions over the more soft-spoken among us (which is a pretty standard situation at improv shows). I appreciate the attempt to allow anyone with good texting fingers to be able to change the direction of the show, and to encourage less screaming and chaos.
I saw it work for three minutes with no other human backup for Rogers as the robot. The full cast very likely helps this random concept work even better. They've got a clip of the group attacking the format on the Life Robotic website:
Either way you go with Michael Rogers, you’ll get a good show. Which is why I’m going to try and fit both onto my schedule.
Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.
While I have your attention, please VOTE :)
Minnesota is currently in the early voting period
for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate,
Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to
vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait
until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)
Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th.
We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your
vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and
gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.
As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.
Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.
For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.
Vote. Raise your voice. We're not going back.
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